School-based promotion of cessation support: reach of proactive mailings and acceptability of treatment in smoking parents recruited into cessation support through primary schools

Kathrin Schuck,Rutger Cme Engels,Roy Otten,Jonathan B Bricker,Marloes Kleinjan

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-381

Abstract

BackgroundSeveral forms of cessation support have been shown effective in increasing the chance of successful smoking cessation, but cessation support is still underutilized among smokers. Proactive outreach to target audiences may increase use of cessation support.MethodsThe present study evaluated the efficiency of using study invitation letters distributed through primary schools in recruiting smoking parents into cessation support (quitline support or a self-help brochure). Use and evaluation of cessation support among smoking parents were examined.ResultsFindings indicate that recruitment of smokers into cessation support remains challenging. Once recruited, cessation support was well received by smoking parents. Of smokers allocated to quitline support, 88% accepted at least one counselling call. The average number of calls taken was high (5.7 out of 7 calls). Of smokers allocated to receive self-help material, 84% read at least some parts of the brochure. Of the intention-to-treat population, 81% and 69% were satisfied with quitline support or self-help material, respectively. Smoking parents were significantly more positive about quitline support compared to self-help material (p<.001).ConclusionsCessation support is well-received and well-used among smoking parents recruited through primary schools. Future studies need to examine factors that influence the response to offers of cessation support in samples of nonvolunteer smokers.Trial registrationThe protocol for this study is registered with the Netherlands Trial Register NTR2707

Highlights

Several forms of cessation support have been shown effective in increasing the chance of successful smoking cessation, but cessation support is still underutilized among smokers
Reach and costs of mailings distributed through primary schools Reach of mailings was defined as the ratio of the number of participants enrolled to the number of participants eligible
Approximately 35,000 mailings were distributed to primary schools, which led to the recruitment of 512 smoking parents out of approximately 10,000 households (30%) which are estimated to include at least one smoking parent [37,38], yielding a response rate of approximately 5%

Summary

Introduction

Several forms of cessation support have been shown effective in increasing the chance of successful smoking cessation, but cessation support is still underutilized among smokers. Proactive outreach to target audiences may increase use of cessation support. Cigarette smoking constitutes a serious burden to health and economy [1]. Connecting smokers to effective cessation services is a public health priority. The majority of smokers intend to quit smoking and a substantial proportion of smokers make repeated quit attempts [2]. Three-quarters of unaided quitters resume smoking within three months [3]. In a meta-analytic review of unaided smoking cessation, it was concluded that only 7% of unaided quit attempts

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Discussion

Conclusion